


Treasure in the Brine

by cryysis



Series: Waves in the Sea [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Sailor Kouga, mermaid au, mermaid kagome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:08:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25561849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryysis/pseuds/cryysis
Summary: "I'm still a sailor at heart. Your scales... they remind me of the ocean. Waves lapping at an empty shore." He wet his lips, drawn to the strings of misshapen pearls hanging around her neck. "Bits of treasure hidden in the depths, waiting to be claimed on the ocean floor."
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Kouga
Series: Waves in the Sea [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008105
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Treasure in the Brine

**Author's Note:**

> Finished early for monophobian, who was having a bad day.
> 
> There's definitely more to come with this one. Just gotta figure out how I want to do it.

"You are really pretty. It's kind of ridiculous."

The mermaid laughed. The sound sang through his blood. "You're handsome enough, for a sailor. What are you doing out here? Don't you know the legends?"

"About mermaids and sirens singing sailors into the rocks? Yeah, I know." Kouga turned his head, tapping next to his ear canal. "They're made from tree sap deep in the mainland. Lessens the effects your voices have on us."

"Is that so?" Her smile was sly but playful, pulling herself up to his level on the sides of his boat. "So if I sang you a tune, you could ignore me?"

"Oh I didn't say that." His smirk stretched wide. "I could deaf, blind, and dumb and I'd still be drawn to you. You're the perfect temptation."

The mermaid hummed, slipping back into the water. She didn't fully submerge, having crossed her arms over the edge to keep herself up. Her eyes seemed to dim in the sun, if only just. "Like every mermaid out there, huh?"

"Don't remember saying that either." Blue orbs caught his, suspicious and surprised. "Pretty sure 'you're the perfect temptation' is exactly what I said.."

"So you did." His mermaid smiled again, fanged teeth biting her lip. "And why is that? The others are just as pretty as I am. More even, depending on the ones you're looking at."

Kouga's cheeks flushed, smirk softening to a bashful smile. "I'll tell you, but you'll laugh. It's silly."

That only seemed to make her more excited. "Tell me. Tell me tell me tell me."

The sun burnt sailor ducked his chin to his chest as he laughed. Looking up, he let his chin rest in his hand. "It's your coloring." Her snort was as cute as she was. "I mean it!"

The mermaid quirked a dark brow. "Black hair, pale skin?"

"No, not that." He nodded to the water behind her. "Your tail."

She blinked at him, stunned. "My tail?" She looked back, but Kouga chose to focus on the sun shining off her scales. They covered most of her upper torso, cresting just above the smooth curve of her breasts. They were iridescent shades of emerald green and black teal, speckled with flecks of bronze and gold. A combination of all his favorite things.

The mermaid was staring at him when he looked back to her face, biting her lip and clearly amused. He hadn't tried to hide his perusal of her, a fact she seemed to appreciate.

"Tell me sailor," she crooned, voice sweet as angels. "What is it you like so much about the color of my tail?"

"It suits you, for one." Kouga reached out, miming the movement of sliding his fingers over her sides without really touching her. He may have been weak to her music, but he wasn't that much of an idiot. "Help you blend in with your natural surroundings and all that."

She snorted, clearly displeased with his answer. Snickering, he gave her what she wanted instead. "I may not be a pirate, but I'm still a sailor at heart. Your scales... they remind me of the ocean. Waves lapping at an empty shore." He wet his lips, drawn to the strings of misshapen pearls hanging around her neck. "Bits of treasure hidden in the depths, waiting to claimed on the ocean floor. You're just..." his smile turned shy, thumb running over his mouth. "You're beautiful."

The longer he spoke, the rosier her cheeks became. His mermaid's earlier displeasure had faded to a soft wonder, lips parted in awe.

"I've... No sailor has ever described me that way before."

He huffed a breathless laugh, not bothering to change position when he realized how close they were. "Drag a lot of sailors down to the brine, do you?"

"Sometimes," she told him honestly, raising herself once more to his level. "Never for me though. The others always claim the sailors they want because of how lovely they are. For a mermaid I'm thought plain."

"To an idiot, maybe. You're not even close to 'plain.'." Kouga's voice softened the closer she came, his whole posture relaxing in her space. "You going to take me down there with you? A sailor all your own?"

His mermaid bit her lip, blue orbs tracking the laps of the waves against his boat. Nervous, she met his gaze. "I should, but I don't want to. I'm young in their eyes even though I'm past my 300th year. The others... They'll take one look at you and try to steal you away."

"And we wouldn't want that, would we?" His fingers itched, wanting to know the softness of her skin.

"No," her eyes shone a deep, sapphire blue. "No, we don't."

He had to swallow before he could speak again. "So what do we do? You swim your way, I sail mine?"

"Well... There is  _ one _ thing we could do. If you wanted."

Surprised, he straightened. "Tell me? I'm listening."

His clear intent eased her. "Have you ever caught a mermaid?"

His mouth hung agape as he tried to adequately find a way to explain the impossibility of such a statement. Clearly the look on his face was more than a little stupid, if her laughter was any true indication. "That's... that's not possible. You  _ can't _ catch a mermaid. They won't let you."

"Yes, that!" Hey eyes were bright, excited. "Think about what you just said. Say it again."

"You..." No, he still didn't understand. "You can't catch a mermaid."

" _ Why _ can't you? You just said it."

"You can't catch a mermaid because..." It hit him, and he was surprised at the realization. "You can't catch a mermaid because they won't let you."

"So," the word was drawn out, a teasing lit. "What if I let you?"

"You want me to  _ catch _ you?" Bemused, he tilted his head. "And what am I supposed to do with a captive mermaid? I don't have a net big enough for a fish trap, let alone anything strong enough to hold you." He cast a brief nod to her tail. "And that's not exactly a pair of legs."

"I'll have human legs by the time we get back to land."

"Somehow, I don't believe you." He grinned when she smacked his chest, glad she understood his playfulness. "I mean, that's a lot of tail."

"And just think, you haven't even seen all of it."

"Can I? See all of it?" She looked surprised. "If that's not crossing some kind of line. I don't mean to offend."

She bit her lip on a smile, unendingly pleased. "You are very courteous, for a human male."

"You can thank my mother for that. She made it a point to beat some manners into my head when I was young."

"A wise woman, if there ever was one." His mermaid slipped back into the water while she clung to the sides, hiding all but her eyes from his view. "I will give you a trade. That is how humans do things, isn't it?"

"There's a bit more to it than that, but that's about the gist of it."

"Then we will trade!" The idea seemed to excite her. "I will let you see the rest of my tail, in exchange for your name."

Kouga tried to recall any legends he'd heard about sailors giving a mermaid their names. Thankfully, none immediately came to mind. "What will you do with my name, once you have it?"

"I'll call you by it, instead of calling you a 'silly man' in my head."

He snorted a laugh, and her grip tightened on his boat.

"So? Will you tell me your name?"

"I'll tell you," he dropped his hand from his chin, letting it hang between his legs. "But humans don't see underwater as well as mermaids do. I won't be able to appreciate your tail to its fullest extent."

"You let me worry about that. I'll make sure you see."

"It's Kouga then, miss maid," he finally told her, having come up with no reason to do otherwise. "A lowly sailor, tempted still by your beauty."

Her smile was pleased. With a quick push, she drew herself up again, meeting him face to face. The full length of her scaled torso was exposed to him, blue-black hair clinging to her shoulders. A band of shells kept wet bangs from falling in her face, sitting on his head like a crown.

"You'll have to lift me from the water," her voice woke him from his stupor, looking away from the drops of ocean water that slid enticingly over her scales. "I'm heavier than you think. But I won't let us tip over."

"R-right." He swallowed lightly, trying to focus on what she was saying. "Do I lift you by your arms then?"

"My arms?" She looked confused before she realized what he meant. "Oh, no, nothing like that. I'll put my arms around your neck, and you'll lift me from the water by my tail."

"By your tail. Right. So bridal style." Did bringing her into the boat count as carrying her over the threshold? He wasn't sure.

She didn't bother to let him finish his internal questions. One of her arms encircled his neck, and his body seemed to suddenly move on its own. Kouga had caught his fair share of large fish over the years, he knew how heavy they could be. But the boat was steady beneath his feet, as if he were standing on a shore.

His brain was probably screaming at him somewhere in the dark to be more cautious. No matter what she promised, the young woman in his arms was still a mermaid. Still a siren. And his foolish self was half leaning out of the boat to lift her over its edge.

His mermaid made no move to drag him beneath the surface. She only waited for him to adjust her in his grip, keeping a portion of her weight braced on the boat's side.

He resettled on the plank, pulling her to sit in his lap. He tried to be mindful of her large dorsal fin, smoothing it to the side so there would be no awkward weight on it. She curled into his chest to get comfortable, her fingers tangled in the strands of her pearls during his quiet perusal.

The full view of her tail was a gift to behold. She had five fins in total, each of a varying size. Her caudal fin was by far the largest, floating gently beneath the wave. Her pelvic fins sat parallel to the first dorsal, the one he'd moved for her comfort. The second dorsal sat just above the caudal peduncle. Each fin started as a bright yellow green where they met her scales, fading into dark sea foam.

But it was the colors of her scales themselves that repeatedly caught his attention. Near her caudal fin, floating just beneath the surface, the green of her scales was so dark they looked almost black, even in the sun. There was a patch of discolored scales there, bronze and gold that reminded him of treasure chests filled with gold. The green lightened then, covered by large patches of emerald-black scales and small scatterings of bronze and gold.

There were no words in any language he knew that would do her beautiful form justice.

"Like I said," his lips brushed over the crown of her head. The words didn't exist, but he would never let her think herself as anything less than perfect. "Exquisite."

He couldn't see her face, but he felt her smile against the warm skin of his neck. Mindful of her fins and gills, he let his fingers glide over the shimmering scales beneath them. Watching them sparkle, catching the light. 

Her lips brushed the underside of his jaw, and he felt a rising heat bloom in his blood.

"So," carefully, he traced the edges of a pelvic fin. "What name am I to call my captive mermaid?"

"You'll have to give me one. Sailors always give mermaids their human names."

The thought bothered him for reasons he couldn't explain. "Do I need to? What about your real name?"

"You want to keep me, don't you?" Her nose brushed his, taloned fingers hovering a hair's breadth from his lips. "If you want to keep me, you have to give me a human name."

She was so close. Close enough to kiss. "What..." Kouga closed his eyes, trying to see through the fog in his head. "What happens if you change your mind? If you decide you want to go back?" Playing at capture was one thing. He didn't really want her trapped.

"I won't, silly man."

"But you might." He covered her hand with his, kissing the fingers backs. "I wouldn't want you unhappy."

"Please?" Her voice was a soft whisper, a quiet plea. She begged. "Please, give me a name?"

Every press of her cool body was making him burn. His arms were full of her, the weight of her filling his lap. She was  _ right. there. _ And he was so, so tempted...

Her lips brushed his. A feather-light kiss.

He gave in.

"Ka-go-me."

He surged upwards, claiming her mouth with his. Tongues tangled and fought, his large hands encompassing her scaled back, her talons tearing holes where she gripped his shirt. Liquid fire boiled his blood, demanding more as he dominated their kiss. She was every temptation he was powerless to resist.

Her soft, feminine whimper was answered with a rumbling moan. He pulled her down with him to the bottom of his boat, spreading his legs to accommodate for the shift of their weight. The crux of where her tail and torso met settled over his hips, shifting glorious weight over his rapidly filling dick.

A heady groan burst from his lips, and it took her barely a moment to understand what caused it. Her smile was wicked, tail flexing with fluctuating pressure while she dove back into their kiss.

His every moan was intersped with desperate curses and gasps of her new human name. Her answering keens were quiet hums against his lips that were slowly driving him to the brink.

He finally broke, pulling it lungfuls of salt-sea air. "You keep doing that and  _ I'm _ going to make us tip."

Her giggle made him grin; he let his hands settle at her waist. "Would that really be so bad?"

Kouga lifted his head, trying to peer over the sides of boat. He would end up with permanent crick at this rate. "I don't know, you tell me."

"Weeell... maybe." Ceeding his point, she slid from her place between his legs and laid next to him on her side. Her fingers traced the lines of his face, eyes shining and light. "Kouga."

He answered her with a smile, slipping close to nip the edge of her lip. "Kagome."

He smirked when she giggled, stealing himself another kiss. The fire in his blood now glowed a warming ember. It let him savor this.

No one would ever believe him if he told the truth, but he could be selfish. He wouldn't tell; the less people knew, the better. They'd come up with something when they got back to shore. The real truth he would take to his grave.

That the only way a man caught a mermaid... was if she let you.


End file.
